An End to Innocence
by Nifty Kitten
Summary: The war begins in earnest and it takes its toll on everyone.


**An End to Innocence**

The months leading up to graduation were chaotic, but for none of the usual reasons. Voldemort and his Death Eaters hadn't the courtesy to wait until after graduation to begin the war in earnest.

The first victim had been Percy Weasley. He stayed too late in his office on a night that the Death Eaters meant to steal some of his files. Finding him there, they decided he'd make a good declaration of their intentions. After a few hours of torture, they killed him and left him to be found by the morning cleaning crews.

Ron Weasley had never looked at Harry with so much hatred in his eyes as he had on the day that his parents came to tell him and Ginny the news. For days afterward, Harry walked around with dead eyes, unspeaking. The professors looked at one another worriedly, but no one did or said anything.

Damn Potter and his dead eyes, he hadn't responded to any of Draco's barbs. He'd been walking around like a zombie for five days and Draco couldn't take it any longer. He walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. When Harry turned, Draco punched him in the nose. He felt something in his fist crack with the force of it and blood sprayed from Harry's face like a fountain.

The next time Harry looked at Draco, his eyes were filled with hatred. Draco smiled.

They were both sent to the infirmary, then to detention with Professor Sprout. Three hours of sweeping up the greenhouse and filling the irrigation tanks later, they walked their seperate ways. Harry was okay, after that. He avoided Ron, not wanting to make things worse, but his guilt had lessened enough for him to function properly.

It didn't last long, though, since two weeks later there were reports from the Ministry of disappearances among the wizarding community, mostly "mudbloods". When Dumbledore made the announcement in the Great Hall, Harry's face turned grey and he rushed from the room without a word. No one followed him. Draco looked over at the Gryffindor table in curiosity, but Hermione and Ron were just staring at one another in shock.

Two hours later, when still no one had seen him, Draco went in search of Harry. Draco figured that two hours was long enough to wait before taunting Potter into a fit of rage. He finally found him in the Astronomy Tower, staring out the window. "Hiding, Potter? How unlike the Boy Wonder we've all come to know and love."

"Fuck off, Malfoy," Harry responded in a dead voice. He didn't turn around.

"Ah, Potter, is that all you've got? Just 'Fuck off, Malfoy'? I've come to expect better from you."

Silence met his taunts.

"Come on, you mean to tell me that you've let the Big Bad kill all these people - when _you're_ the one he really wants - and you're not even going to defend yourself? And I thought you Gryffindorks were the _nice_ ones."

Harry rounded on him. "It's not my fault, damn you! I didn't _ask_ to be the Boy Who Lived! What am I supposed to do, go after Voldemort on my own? I get myself killed and then what?"

Draco smirked as he watched Potter stalk from the room, radiating righteous anger.

Three days later, Dumbledore announced that no one would be allowed to leave school grounds until "this issue is resolved." Grumbling was heard from every table and Harry's shoulders drooped. He held his hand out to Hermione, trying to apologise. She sighed and shook her head.

The following weeks passed quickly, in a rush of protection wards and false alarms. To hear that someone (usually a Hufflepuff) had passed out in class and had to be taken to the infirmary was not uncommon. The fear and uncertainty had gotten to everyone, it seemed, and no one was willing to talk about it.

Classes were somber affairs in which students asked thoughtful questions on the usefulness of a certain plant/potion/spell in defending themselves against...something. They never named the 'something', but everyone knew what they meant.

Meals were even more somber, often punctuated by Dumbledore's sad announcements that yet another witch or wizard had been lost in the fight against You-Know-Who. The ghosts were rarely seen in the Great Hall and some students speculated that they'd been sent out to perform secret spying missions for the headmaster. Draco imagined they were probably hiding in whatever dark corners they could find.

It was three weeks before graduation when the protection wards fell. No one was sure why it had happened, but the professors - Dumbledore especially - worked frantically to get them back in place. While they were down, though, three Death Eaters snuck through and before the day was over more than a dozen students had been killed.

Draco was unsurprised to see that Lucius Malfoy was among the Death Eaters present. In a moment of clarity, he raised his wand and pronounced what he knew would be his own death sentence. "Avada Kedavra," he said, wondering where the absolute calm he was feeling had come from, and he watched his father die.

As he turned to walk away, he saw that Potter had been watching him. Draco raised an eyebrow, daring him to say anything about what he'd just seen. Harry just nodded at him, as if they were such good friends that no words were needed.

Draco didn't sleep for three nights after that. He spent each evening on the Quidditch pitch, staring at the stars and speeding about on his broom. He kept thinking that if he flew a little longer, a little faster, he could wear himself out enough to sleep without dreaming of his father's face as he died.

On the fourth night, Draco was surprised to see someone already on the pitch when he arrived. It was Potter and he was lying on the grass as if he belonged there.

Harry didn't say a word when Draco lay down beside him, only reached over a moment to pass him a bottle of Dreamless Sleep before settling back to stare at the night sky.

Draco took the bottle and tucked it into his robes. He realised that he shouldn't be very surprised that Potter had known he wasn't sleeping. They seemed to have that sort of relationship as of late. Which was not to say, he assured himself, that they were anything resembling _friends_.

It was another week before the real battle began and Voldemort himself stormed the castle. Dumbledore argued with Harry for hours about how he should stay with the rest of the students, who were being hidden in the dungeons for their own safety. Harry argued that if he'd left school just the day before, none of this would be happening. Or, at least, none of it would be happening so near the rest of the students. Finally, Dumbledore had to give in when Harry looked up at him with sad eyes and said, "It's time for me to take care of myself."

The professors - all but Sybill Trelawney, who had been sent to the dungeons as a last line of defense for the students - and Harry lined up in the entryway, waiting for the battle to begin. When the door burst open and the Dursleys were shoved through, Dumbledore hardly blinked. He calmly raised his wand and put them all to sleep.

The Death Eaters who'd been shoving them through weren't expecting the extra weight and dropped them to the ground. McGonagall, realising what had happened, quickly levitated the bodies to a far corner and sent Pomfrey for a stretcher she could use to shuttle the sleeping muggles to the dungeons where they'd be safe.

When the Dursleys were finally deposited in the dungeon, no one could figure out who they were and what they were doing there in the middle of a war. When Draco figured out who they must be, he turned to look at Hermione and Ron to see if they knew, too.

Potter's holier-than-thou shadows were staring at the muggles with very different expressions on their faces. Hermione looked at them sadly, knowing who they were and how they'd gotten dragged into this. She obviously felt sorry for them, yet more people who'd been unfairly affected by Harry's problems. The Weasel, on the other hand, was staring at them with a look of absolute hatred, as if they were to blame for everything that had gone wrong in his life. Draco realised that Ron must be jealous that they'd been saved and his brother had not. Idiot.

It wasn't until the following day that the students were let out of the dungeons and given a brief overview of the events that had taken place. Voldemort and his evil minions had stormed the castle, bringing Harry Potter's muggle family, the Dursleys, with them. Harry and the professors were prepared for this and got the family safely away from the Death Eaters before beginning the battle proper.

Apparently, most of the Death Eaters had run away when it became obvious that Voldemort wasn't beating Potter as easily as they expected. Dumbledore expected that Aurors would be sent out to collect them before week's end.

It was never revealed exactly how Voldemort died and, when asked, the professors just looked at one another and shook their heads, not responding. Harry himself never said another thing about Voldemort or the Death Eaters, quietly leaving the room whenever the subject came up.

Three days later, it occured to Draco that he should head out to the pitch to see if Potter was sulking. He took a bottle of Dreamless Sleep - swiped from Professor Snape's laboratory - with him, on instinct. Sure enough, Potter was lying in the grass, staring at the sky.

Draco sat down beside him, handing him the bottle. They stayed that way for hours, silently waiting for...something. When red-orange of dawn crept into the sky, both young men stood and walked back to the castle, as if by pre-arranged agreement.

On graduation day, the Dumbledore tried to make everything seem normal again, but the celebratory mood was spoiled when the first diploma was granted post-mortem. No one realised until his name was called that Harry Potter was not in attendance. McGonagall tried to make it seem as though this had been expected by giving a quick speech about Harry Potter's gift to each of them - their lives free of slavery and Voldemort.

This did nothing to bring the mood up, but by that point no one cared. Students were crying left and right and Professor Flitwick was seen dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief. Draco watched Crabbe and Goyle accept their diplomas, then Hermione Granger, who was rumoured to have planned a speech about not forgetting loved ones lost. When Draco's name was finally called, he stood and walked silently to the stage. He accepted his diploma, thanking both Snape and Dumbledore, and - rather than staying for the rest of the ceremony - left.

He found Potter sitting on the front steps, then found himself sitting down beside him.

Harry looked up. "Thank you."

Draco nodded sharply, then, "Thank _you_."

Harry nodded and they sat in silence until a rush of noise from behind told them that the ceremony was over. They stood and faced each other. Harry stuck out his hand. "Mal- Draco," he said firmly.

Draco stared at the proferred hand for a moment before grasping it with his own. "Harry."

They nodded at one another and turned, walking through the doors side by side.


End file.
